


In a Jam

by ANebulaDarkly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: #20Bugteen, Adrien Agreste has no chill, Adrinette, Alya is a Good Bro, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Conversations, Chat gets like one pun, Dorks in Love, F/M, Identity Reveal, Idiots in Love, Jealous Adrien Agreste, Jealous Chat Noir, LadyNoir - Freeform, Movie References, Nino has more than one line, Not that he knows that, Oblivious Adrien Agreste, Reveal, Summer, fifth in fandom, green eyed beast, how do I title, lavender for luck, nino is wise AF, puns apparently, slight DjWifi, sorry chat, this is my jam, yes another reveal fic, you're welcome Nino
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 09:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19082005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ANebulaDarkly/pseuds/ANebulaDarkly
Summary: Someone’s feeling jelly in more ways than one.





	In a Jam

It was the last full week of school, the last Monday of school to be exact, sunny and warm, and the promise of freedom hung in the air like the dust motes by the window. Or, at least, freedom for everyone else. To him, summer represented time his father could line up more photoshoots and Chinese tutoring and fencing practice for him, and less time for his real freedom with his friends. He’d be lucky to get a few days off to visit Nino. Adrien groaned and let his head settle on his desk, his folded arms blocking the light he was in too sour a mood to appreciate. He could hear the sounds of other students shuffling by him, but despite how his father would have wanted him to behave (head up, slight smile, not a hair out of place), the longer he had been Chat Noir, the less he found he wanted to contain himself to the limits set out for Adrien. A finger poked his arm. Huffing, he peered up out from his arms to see Alya smiling at him.

“Don’t look so glum, chum. M’s got something to sort you out.”

He raised an eyebrow and glanced behind Alya to the mentioned girl. Marinette smiled and waved a little, a wave he returned. Alya pulled her closer to his desk, and Marinette set a small, open box before him. He could make out four circles of color and nothing else. The girl set her hands on the orange circle and revealed it to be a jar of jam. He watched as she handed the first to Alya. The one with a dark green cloth she handed to Nino, who accepted the gift with a nod. She finally reached down and pulled a jar with a light blue fabric square and held it out to him.

“What’s this for?”

She looked at her feet as she spoke.

“Um, our produce person for the bakery was able to bring in a few crates of early apricots on Friday. I asked my papa to show me how to make it into jam yesterday, and I figured there was more than enough to share.”

He held it up to the light, making the fruit glow gold within the glass.

“Is this apricot and...lavender?”

“Yes! It’s...uh…”

His entire being lit up like the jar.

“Apricot and lavender is my favorite! How did you know?”

Marinette seemed surprised by the fact.

“I...um, I didn’t?”

He settled back into his seat, clutching the jar tightly to his chest for safe keeping. He would be purring if he had been transformed and no amount of trying could keep the entirety of his Chat Noir grin from his face.

“Lucky me, then.”

He looked down at the box and saw a fourth jar with a black fabric square. He knew for a fact that while Marinette was friends with most everyone in class, she considered Alya, Nino, and by what he assumed to be an extension of best friend code, Adrien, her closest friends. Which was only three people. Not four. He wasn’t sure who that last jar would go to or how much of a fight would break out with their remaining classmates if Marinette gave it to someone outside of their quartet.

“And who is that last one for?” he asked as casually as he could although the curiosity was burning him up alive.

“Oh, um, yeah. Fourth. It’s for another friend of mine,” she said rubbing the back of her neck, still unable to make eye contact.

“Who?” he pushed.

“Just, just a friend...who I met...I met on, uh, line?”

He never really pegged Marinette as one to spend much time online for as busy as she always seemed working on projects and being class president. Adrien perked up at the possibility of adding another friend to his small cluster.

“Does she go to school here?”

Marinette looked to her right at the doorway, as if searching for a face, even as the corners of her mouth turned down and her shoulders slumped a little.

“...n..no.”

He stared at her. Marinette had always been a little odd, but in a good way. But even this was a bit too confusing for even him.

“Then why did you bring it with you?”

She shrugged and spoke as though she wasn’t really there for the conversation any more.

“Because I’m not sure when I’ll get to see him, so I thought it might be better to have it on hand just in case.”

Him. A guy. She met a guy online and was carrying jam for in case she met him? Even Alya looked up from her phone at that.

“You are walking around with an extra jar of jam just in case you run into your friend that doesn’t go to school here?” Alya asked.

Marinette looked directly at her.

“Yeah. It’s his favorite. That’s why I made it. It would be a nice gift, but it made so much, I decided to share.”

Her face turned red as she seemed to suddenly understand what she had said out loud as Alya’s gaze bore down on her. Adrien slumped back in his seat. Marinette had gone out of her way to spend a weekend making jam for this guy that he didn’t know. Whoever that guy was he better freaking appreciate all the work she put into it. Right down to the obviously hand stitched green thread along the edges of the black cloth tucked under the metal ring of the lid. That guy was a lucky....

Adrien stopped at the thought. Just because it was his favorite jam too didn't mean he should be angry with this guy, right? He should be glad Marinette gave him anything at all no matter the reason, but an internet friend? He glanced up at Alya as she stood there throwing her arms around having an intense but silent conversation with Marinette. Wait. Had Alya not met his guy? Was he safe? Adrien would have to talk to Alya about him during lunch. But even then, maybe Chat Noir should follow behind Marinette for a while in case this guy turned out to be a creep. Nino, ever the voice of rational thinking, shoved him.

“Wasn’t that nice of Nette to bring us some jam?” Nino said loudly to distract the entire group.

Alya and Marinette paused in their flailing ‘conversation’ and turned to look at Nino who continued to look at him. Adrien blinked. Right. Where were his manners? His father would be glaring daggers if he were there to witness it.

“Of course. Thank you, Marinette.”

“Welcome you’re, um, you’re welcome, Adrien,” she replied before taking up her seat just behind his.

Nino tilted his head at Adrien, his brows furrowed. Adrien shrugged. He was probably just tired and the prospect of having not being able to see his friends regularly was messing with his head. No need to worry about why he had been so distracted at the thought of Marinette having another friend.

Marinette deserved to have as many friends as she liked. He should be happy for her. Right?

* * *

 Adrien’s toe tapped in his shoe as he’d been taught to do by his first piano instructors when he was learning to keep time. The tapping threatened to take over his foot any moment, if not his entire leg. If he’d been able to transform, he’d already be running on the rooftops. Most days, he easily kept his itch to move under control, but class today was trying him in a way he’d never had to deal with before. The minute hand moved, but the seconds seemed forever. He was curling and uncurling his hand around his pencil uncertain of what his teacher was saying. His whole being was fixed on the clock, waiting for that glorious moment when the bell would ring for lunch.

One. More. Minute.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

BELL.

His eyes dropped from the clock to his teacher. Come on.

“Remember to review your notes and bring in any questions you have for your exams so we can discuss them tomorrow. You are dismissed.”

Adrien shot up to his feet, spun on his heel, and slammed his hands on the desk behind him.

“Alya, I need to talk to you!”

Alya and Marinette both flinched hard at his sudden reaction and shared a look. Alya tilted her head. Marinette nodded. Alya then turned to the obviously bouncing on the balls of his feet Adrien.

“Okay, sunshine. I can spare a few minutes. What’s up?”

Adrien glanced at Marinette and then away. Alya raised an eyebrow.

“Um, maybe, not here?”

Alya grinned in a very unsettling, Chat-like way.

“Of course. Let me get my things.”

Adrien felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders that she so easily accepted. But he needed to know. Now. He spun, shoved his things in his bag, and moved to bounce in place by the door. Alya kept grinning as she slowly collected her things, set a reassuring hand on Marinette who left to go home for lunch, and sent a wink at Nino. She grinned as she crossed the distance to join him at the door. The library would be have people, and there would be too many people roaming the halls during the lunch period. He just needed one empty classroom. Decision made, he lead her to the right, eyes glancing through windows hoping to spot a room that would fit his needs.

“So Alya, I think we need to have a talk,” he told her in hushed tones as they wove through the other students making their way out of their own rooms.

“About what exactly, sunshine?”

He glanced at her. Her smile had not waned. What did she know that he didn’t? Still no empty rooms.

“About Marinette,” his whispered.

“What about her _exactly_?” Alya drawled out.

The halls had cleared for the most part. Instead he closed in on Alya, opened his mouth, and groaned loudly as the akuma alert siren blasted. His head sank. Alya would not be stopped from reporting, and he literally had somewhere else to be. A hand shoved his shoulder.

“I gotta go, but I am free after school, okay?”

She gave him a bright, more genuine and less terrifying smile before running off. He sighed heavily, watching after her. It was Monday, which meant Chinese. Maybe he could catch her tomorrow? Plagg flew out of his pocket and grumbled through his yawns.

“Ugh, that stupid siren is ruining my nap.”

“And it ruined my chances to find out about Marinette’s new friend any time today.”

Plagg stilled his lazy shifting side to side as he narrowed in on what his chosen had said.

“The baker girl’s new friend?”

“Yeah. Weren’t you listening at all today?”

Plagg let his smile drop and shrugged.

“No. I was napping. Much more important. Though not as important as cheese.”

“Cheese is for after we do something about this akuma. Come on, Plagg, claws out!”

In a rush of green light, Chat Noir stood where Adrien had been. A moment later he used his baton to propel him through the opening of the roof.

* * *

 Chat landed across the street from Ladybug, probably a bit too forcefully. He’d been on the scene less than a minute, and he was already over this akuma that had interrupted his chance to find out what was going on with his friend. Ladybug spotted him, graced him with a smile, and jumped to join him behind an overturned car.

“Nice of you to drop in, Chaton,” Ladybug greeted him.

It took him a minute to shift gears. Ladybug looked at him curiously as he didn’t reply. He shook his head to clear his mind and focus on the task at hand. He gave her a small grin.

“It’s always a pleasure, my lady. Any ideas about the akuma yet?”

“Not yet. But--”

She grabbed him by the bell to pull him down as an army of people with glowing green eyes marched down the street.

“The akuma has an army?” Chat hissed.

“We have a Chat,” she replied with a grin.

For the first time since he'd learned about Marinette's internet friend, he could feel the corner of his lip turn up. She tossed her yoyo, and he used his baton to move over the growing hordes. Catching sight of the akuma standing on top of a fountain, Ladybug signaled for them to move to a roof to observe. The akuma was a woman clothed in a deep emerald fur dress, with green fur bracers and gloves, and a green mask that covered her from her nose up and attached to a riot of green fur cascading into a cape that flowed behind her. Gold chains sparkled around her hips and up her arms. Chains dangled alongside the fur in her head dress and bound her cape and--the gold sparkled like apricot jam in the sunlight. He growled a little. If only there hadn’t been an akuma, he could have asked Alya about that guy that none of them knew.

Ladybug turned her head to glare at him.

It took him a moment to realize that his tail was twitching erratically behind him. He looked a little sheepish and returned his attention to the fight.

“Wait. I know that akuma,” Ladybug whispered.

“You do?”

“Yeah. The object has to be….there. Under her cape, on her hip. That black square. That’s the object.”

He huffed. Another day, another akuma villain Ladybug somehow knew all about. For once though, he was grateful to not have to focus, just do the work. He turned to her.

“So how are we getting to it?”  

“They all have green eyes,” LB said. “Just like someone else I know.”

“I hope you don’t mean what I think you mean.”

“Come on, Chat. You have to create a diversion.”

Great.

* * *

 Chat felt odd shifting through the army. None of them paid him any attention because he had green eyes, just as Ladybug had suspected. While the akuma roared on, shouting orders to the army to bring her Aimee, Chat drew up behind the akuma. He glanced at the roofs to see if Ladybug was in place. She nodded at him. He pulled his baton to swipe the akuma off her feet, but rather than fall to the plaza floor she floated and turned on him, her eyes blazing.

“Hold him!”

After a moment she smirked and floated closer to him. He tried to swing his baton, but the army soon pried it from him while others still came up behind him and grabbed his arms to hold him. The akuma shot out her hands and gripped him by the chin. He shut his eyes, guessing that eye contact was how she turned her army. His exposed skin felt slightly warmer than normal, but nothing happened. Instead, she simply cackled. He opened his eyes at that.

“Looks like I’m not the only green eyed beast today,” she sneered.

Wait. Green eyed beast?

Before he could puzzle out the meaning behind her words, Ladybug swung by the akuma, ripping the object off the akuma's hip as she went. She landed on top of the fountain the akuma had occupied, lifted the object which looked like a notebook, and ripped it in half. One cure later and they stood in the plaza surrounded by confused victims, though none so confused as himself. How had he not fallen victim and become part of her army? What had that akuma meant? Ladybug coughed, and he turned to her, her hand hanging in the air waiting. He returned her fist pound half heartedly.

“So, um, Chat?”

Chat finally shook himself out of his own head to really look at Ladybug, who seemed suddenly unsure of herself.

“Yeah, LB?”

“Do you, um, do you have plans, for uh, tonight?”

“Tonight?”

She looked to the right, as though she were looking for someone.

“Yeah, I sort of...have a, later meet me...would you ah...would you mind meeting me later?”

Chat opened his mouth to agree, his joy at being invited _by her_ to do something when they weren’t busy dealing with an akuma or for patrol felt like the time he’d gotten too close to a Tesla coil. Movement caught his eye, and his gaze slid behind Ladybug to see Alya swiftly running to catch them for an interview. With her appearance, all of the doubts still shifting within him returned.

Marinette.

He had planned to follow her a bit tonight to keep her safe. He was torn. He wanted to see Ladybug with his whole heart, but then, he wondered, what would Ladybug do if she were in the same situation? He wanted to live up to her, and she would do her job to keep someone safe. He made his decision. Marinette came first.

“I’m sorry, LB. I’m probably going to be busy tonight.”

“Um, oh, okay, then,” she said, her face falling. “Well, I guess, I guess if something opens up and you have time, maybe, just give me a call.”

“If not tonight, definitely tomorrow,” he tried to reassure her, to get that hopeful look back on her face.

“Yeah. Tomorrow,” she echoed flatly.

She’d looked so nervous and excited, and he hated that he had dimmed her mood. He swore he would tell her tomorrow about following Marinette, when they had more time. She would understand and agree his did the right thing. She was good like that. Her miraculous beeped, reminding them of the time. Her hand went to her ear.

“Go… gotta I...ugh. I gotta go, Chat. Bug out!”

She turned and zipped away faster than he could ever remember doing so, and he worried that it had been because of him and not just the timer. He turned to Alya who had final reached him completely out of breath and still barely holding her phone upright. He really did need to get her a small handheld tripod for running while filming. It would make the footage he would watch later a lot less shaky. He filed that as an idea for her birthday before giving her and the Internet his signature grin.

“Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Team Miraculous!” he said with a wink. “Remember to stay Pawesome, Paris!”

He threw his two fingers to his brow out of muscle memory rather than for his need for flair before using his baton to propel away. He’d be lucky to get something to eat before his next class. Stupid Hawkmoth and his stupid akumas.

* * *

 The final bell rang for the day. Most of the class hurried out the door, running toward the warm sunshine, to laze on the grass in the parks while pretending to study. He slowly collected his things, wondering why Ladybug had wanted to meet him in the first place. He hated disappointing her, even a little. But he needed to make sure Marinette was safe, needed to know she would be okay with whoever this guy was that was ruining his life today. Most of the class had filed out by the time he realized Marinette and Alya were walking past him. Ignoring Nino’s head tilt, Adrien leapt up after them as they reached the door.

“Hey, uh, Marinette,” he called to slow them down.

Alya and Marinette turned at one to face him, both still lingering in the doorway.

“Hey, Adrien, um, what I do you for? Ur, um, what can I do for you?”

“I wanted to say thanks again for the jam.”

“You’re...you’re welcome.”

He deliberately did not glance at Alya, who had her arms crossed and smirked, as he asked Marinette his next question.

“Hey, were you ever able to get ahold of that friend of yours? Gonna meet him tonight?”

“I’m not sure. He said he probably wouldn’t be free tonight,” she lamented.

The nerve of him. Ignoring Marinette when she’s done something so nice for him. He probably didn’t deserve her.

“That was incredibly rude of him.”

He wasn’t supposed to have voice it out loud, but by the looks he was getting from everyone, the wide eyes and gaping mouths, he actually had. His eyes turned from Nino who had slid up beside him during his conversation, to Alya, finally to Marinette. And while her mouth had hung open, he watched as her face shifted. And he saw something there that he had never seen before directed at him, a fire and fury that were not to be trifled with. He gulped. She stalked up closer to Adrien and said the most coherent string of sentences he’d ever heard from her in his life.

"Look, he's a bit of a dork, but he's my friend and he's busy too. Just because it is taking him a _while_ to figure out when we can see each other doesn't mean he's rude. He's got a life like everyone else."

Adrien, stupidly, retaliated with the first thought to cross his mind.

"Well, you probably shouldn't date someone who can't put you first."

And just like that stuttering Marinette was back, her face drawn back like he’d slapped her.

"We're not...I'm not...why do think...he's my...ugh! Why does it even matter to you!" she finally yelled throwing her hands in the air.

He couldn’t take his eyes off the intensity of her gaze, her solid stance, like she was ready to take on the world, and for the life of him he couldn’t exactly explain why his heart was speeding up so fast or why he couldn’t find words or why his palms were suddenly so clammy at the sight of her burning defense of a friend. The silence between them wore on, and the words she had shouted seemed to reach her ears. She turned bright red covering her mouth as she realized what she said and ran. Alya glared at him.

“Nice going, Agreste,” Alya snapped. “Nino, talk, shake, or beat some sense into him.”

She immediately turned and ran after her friend, Marinette’s name and footsteps echoing through the halls. He reached out with his hand before clenching it and pulling it back.

“You're my friend,” Adrien finally whispered to the empty place where Marinette had once stood.

Nino shifted his backpack, drawing Adrien’s attention. Adrien turned to him in confusion, and Nino sighed heavily at his oblivious friend.

“She may not have said that the nicest, but she’s got a point, mec. What does it matter to you who she dates?”

“She's my friend. Friends usually are protective of each other, right? Like go undercover and snoop around to make sure he isn’t some stalker.”

Nino hedged what he should say to the poor sheltered boy he had taken under his wing so long ago.

"Adrien, this is not a movie,” Nino began. “Nor are you Alya, Marinette’s best friend and aspiring reporter. Most people don’t go that far for just a friend. Which means I need to ask you to ask yourself. Are you sure she's _just_ a friend?"

Adrien blinked but bit back his immediate knee jerk reply. Nino sighed and slapped a hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Come on, mec. You've got Chinese lessons to get to.”

* * *

 Chinese was Chinese. Plagg had sense enough to stay quiet most of the afternoon. Dinner was lonely once again. Adrien stalked back toward his room. He didn’t want to think at all about what anyone had said, from Alya demanded to know _exactly_ what about Marinette he wanted to talk about to the akuma implying he too was a green eyed beast. What did Nino even mean by ‘just a friend’? Her friendship was important to him. Friends were important to each other. The humming under his skin had grown more that he could take. Biting back a growl, he locked his door and called out his transformation.

It didn’t matter what anyone else thought. He was still going to protect Marinette. Everything in him simply grew more tense with every leap and bound between rooftops. If he could just see her, he’d know she was alright, that she wasn’t going to see that creep that wasn’t good enough for her. He landed silently on the outside of her round window that overlooked the river. Slowly he lifted his head to peek inside.

Marinette was there.

She was sitting at her desk, her back to him, fabric draped over her lap as she guided it through her sewing machine. Her dress form had been moved to stand near the large beam in her room, with the bust of a dress already pinned in place. He smiled fondly as his breathing slowed, his tension melting away at the sight of her. She was safe.

As though she could sense his thoughts, she finished the line of stitching and turned to look over her right shoulder. He ducked his head a little lower to stay out of sight. Her eyes landed on a single jar of golden yellow sitting in front of her computer. Her shoulders drooped, and she turned away from it to resume her project.

He frowned.

She must have really been looking forward to meeting that guy. But that was because she was a nice person. He sighed and peeled away from her window. He checked the time on his baton. 19 h 54. There was still a while yet before sunset, still time for someone to meet up. He took a deep breath before scouting a good location to keep an eye on things. He looked up at the top of chimney wall and nixed the idea. No clear line of sight. He cursed that her place faced the river and not some easy to watch from building. Growling internally, he bounded to his left, to take up residence on a roof across the street, albeit to the side of the bakery rather than in front of as he would have preferred. His tail swishing behind him, he vigilantly waited.

* * *

An hour had come and gone, and still she remained within. He checked the time. Sunset was less than an hour away now, and they had school tomorrow. There was no way she’d go out to meet someone this late. Even Marinette was smarter than that.

Satisfied that he’d done his job, Chat decided to head home.

He was on top of the school when the thought occurred to him. Ladybug had asked him to call her if his night opened up, and well, while nearly ten o’clock at night might be late for some, it wasn’t that late for superheroes. He couldn’t believe he’d forgotten all about her wanting to meet up with him as preoccupied as he’d been with Marinette today. He shook his head. What kind of cat forgets what the love of his life asks of him? May as well make his transformation worth something. He popped open his baton and rang her.

A few minutes and two calls later, he assumed she had had to transform, he finally got ahold of her.

“Chat!” Ladybug grinned at him warmly. “Were you able to make some free time tonight?”

“Of course. Anything for you, bugaboo.”

She blushed light and bit her lip. It took her a minute to reply.

“Uh, so um, w-where can I meet you?”

“I’m actually pretty close to the Notre Dame.”

“Sounds good. I’ll be there in about ten, Kitty.”

* * *

 Chat settled in on the edge of the roof of the Notre Dame. His gaze swept across the river sparkling with light from the dying sun before settling on the bakery. The lights were off in Marinette’s room, and with the darkness rushing in, she would have had to turn on a light by now to keep working on her project. She’d probably finally gotten tired and decided to go to bed he reasoned. He pulled a knee up to rest his head on, while he let the other leg dangle. So much had happened today, from Marinette’s kindness to cryptic akumas to his friends pressing him about questions to which they already knew the answers. What was he missing that they all seemed to see? He sighed heavily as Ladybug landed softly beside him. He turned and gave her a nod. She tilted her head and settled in next to him on the roof, setting down something on the far side of her. He lifted his head to look around her, but her face cut into his view and her eyes met his.

"Chat, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, LB. Besides, you were the one that wanted to meet tonight."

"Tell me then why you were off during the fight this afternoon? You didn’t pun. Not even once. The akuma said something that shook you up. You were even slow on the fist pound! Come on, kitty, talk to me. My stuff can wait."

He blinked but didn’t speak. She huffed before swinging her arm in front of her to open the floor for him.

"I don't know what you want to me to say."

She folded her arms and glared at him.

"You've got something on your mind, and it's making you upset."

"I'm not upset,” he deflected. “I'm just...."

He ignored the small tilt of the corner of her lips as he fell into her trap.

"I'm... _concerned_. One of my friends and I got into an argument over someone she planned to meet."

"Oh? It's a _she_?" Ladybug teased.

He threw his hands into the air. Between Alya and Nino earlier, he’d had enough of people teasing him about his relationship with Marinette.

"She's _just_ a friend, okay? Why do people keep suggesting something else?"

Ladybug pulled her head back at his harsh reply and held up her hands. Her tone was softer and more gentle after realizing she’d probably hit the wrong button for this topic.

"I'm sorry. That was rude of me. Boys and girls can just be friends, it doesn't all have to be about relationships."

He paused as what she said sunk in.

"Oooooh. Oh no."

He put his head in his hands and groaned.

"What?"

"I may have unintentionally done the same thing and just assumed that a guy friend of hers was someone she was dating," he grumbled from his hands.

She lightly scratched behind his ear.

"Tsk tsk tsk, kitty. Sounds like you've got an apology to be making to your friend."

He finally sat upright.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I think I was just feeling really...protective? She’s a really great friend, and when she mentioned this guy that she met online, it had me really worried. He could be dangerous. Our other friend didn’t even seem to know about him. That’s why I was busy earlier. I watching to see if she would meet with him tonight.”

Ladybug blinked and her eyes went a little wide, before shaking her head and attempting to change the topic.

“So um, the akuma, why did that akuma have you all shaken up then? More on your mind than the ‘just a friend’ of yours?”

He sighed and recalled the weird moment when he thought he had been had by the akuma but nothing happened.

“The akuma called me a green eyed beast.”

She tilted her head and gestured to his suit.

“But you kind of are?”

He shook his head and recalled not every French child had been made to read Shakespeare.

“No. No. Not because I’m a cat. She meant I was jealous. Which might be why the akuma couldn’t add me to her army...”

“Jealous? Who are you jealous of, Chaton?” she barely whispered.

He sat up straight and his eyes were wide. He had been so sure all this time that his motives were true, but maybe it had been something else.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” she said softly.

He looked at her, his mouth fumbling for the words as his mind tried to process the revelation.

“I think...I am jealous of the fact my friend made my favorite jam for someone else.”

She gasped. Her hand covered her mouth, her eyes as wide as his. She took a deep breath and tried to talk him through this.

“I don’t...I don’t understand,” he tried weakly.

“You got jealous of her gift...for someone else…?”

“Yeah?”

She turned from him not able to look him in the eye as she tried to explain.

“Usually, people get jealous in situations like that...because, well, at least in my case it has been, because um, well, they have a crush.”

Having managed to get through her words, she turned to look at him.

“Do...do you think, that maybe it’s possible that you have a slight, um, crush, on this friend of yours, and you just didn’t know it?”

It felt like an akuma punch. It took _Ladybug_ , the girl he _loved_ , to explain to him that he had _a crush on someone else_. And why shouldn’t he have a crush on Marinette? She was smart and talented and brave and amazing. Except he was in love with someone else. He sucked in a deep breath.

“What...what do I do about...about this?” he begged her. “I...I can’t having feelings for two people at once!”

He looked to her in his panic, certain that if anyone could make sense of the situation to find his way out again, it would be her.

“Oh. Oh, mon chaton,” she whispered, her voice filled with awe.

A soft grin grew on her face before she gently pulled his face to hers, just long enough for her to rest her forehead against his. She opened her eyes so close to him, her breath warm against his skin. His heart was a wreak.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you tonight.”

“W-what?”

He hadn’t expected her to completely shift the conversation again. She pulled away to reach for the bag on the other side of her. What did whatever she had in her brown paper bag have anything to do with his current internal crisis? She giggled as he stared at her dumbstruck. What was so funny? Before he could voice that question, something heavy and smooth settled in his hand. He glanced down and blinked.

There was a jar of apricot and lavender jam in his hand, sparkling in the sunset. A jar with black fabric and green stitching. Just like his suit.

“This...this sort of puts me in a jam,” he confessed.

Her face fell a little.

“Why is that?”

His mind was spinning. Not only was she the love of his life but she was also the girl he just admitted to having a crush on? But there was the one thing that was more important than that. Her. Her wants, and specifically that she had wanted to keep her secret.

“I know who you are.”

She smirked at him and gave him a playful shove with her shoulder.

“That would be a sticky situation _if_ I hadn’t figured it out earlier with all your ranting, Adrien.”

She...knew? And she still handed him the jar anyway? She wanted to let him know who she was? How could he have missed her all this time?

“Mari...Marinette. You’re Marinette. Ladybug has been sitting right behind me in class all year. I can’t believe I didn’t see it sooner.”

She set her hand on his knee.

“It’s okay, Chaton. I didn’t realize it either. Probably the magic.”

He settled back a little as the connections clicked into place in his head.

“Me. It was me.”

“What?”

“The guy I accused you of dating was me.”

“Yes. You did accuse me of dating you,” she agreed slowly.

“Me. The guy I was jealous of was me?”

“Also true. Is there anything else helpful that you would like to add to the conversation?”

Her voice had strayed toward hurt and annoyed.

“Marinette, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to assume what I did earlier.”

She backed down, her shoulders almost as low as they were in her room while she had looked at this same jar.

“You realized your mistake, and you’re fixing it now. No...no harm done.”

Who was this girl in front of him? Marinette was never this composed and Ladybug never let herself be this open.

“How are you so calm about his right now?”

She froze. After a minute of silence, everything she’d been holding back came out all at once in true Marinette fashion.

“It’s the mask. I tend to think of worse case scenarios as easy as breathing, but I sort of pavloved myself to not let myself freak out while I was in the mask. Trust me. A soon as I get home I’ll be screaming into my pillow that my superhero partner, who I was crushing on hard enough to make his favorite jam based on a story he told me about his mom to try and tell him how I feel because it had the right meanings and giving boys jam with meanings is weirder than flowers, probably, but this was a _pun,_ and he’d love that, you know, well he also happens to be the same guy who is my former school crush, which might not be as former as I thought it was, and that means he totally knows what a dork I am because not only was he there when I literally smacked into him and tied us both up in my line the first time I tried to ever use my yoyo, he was there every time I have tripped over nothing at school so I probably have absolutely no chance with him now because ‘it’s too late. he knows.’, and I am going to shut up now because I have to preserve some of my superhero status because I only babble in front of a cute boy that is so sweet it makes my heart hurt when I am not wearing a mask, and I am wearing a mask right now so that means no babbling--”

Her words finally processed in his mind. She liked him. Chat Noir. That’s why she’d been upset. She had worked so hard to make a jar of jam to tell Chat Noir she liked him, and she thought that he was apologizing and trying to sweep all this new knowledge under the rug. Chat cut her off by grabbing her hands in his.

“You think I’m sweet?”

Not trusting her words, Marinette nodded her head, her eyes unable to meet his.

“Of course. I fell for Adrien all at once when he gave me his umbrella. I fell for you so slowly during all our time together with you just being you.”

He tilted her chin so he could look into her eyes and smiled at her. The sunset obscured what he was sure was a beautiful blush. He had to tell her that her efforts hadn’t been wasted.

“Marinette?”

“Yeah?”

Her voice was so hopeful and her eyes so blue from under those lashes. His heart swelled, and in his soul he knew the perfect words to say. He was so lucky that things had fallen into place so perfectly to make this moment in his life possible.

“You’re my jam.”

Despite the fact Marinette threaten to throw him off the building and chased him across the roofs of Paris for the terrible pun the rest of the night, he’d never felt so lucky and loved in all his life.

**Author's Note:**

> YOU ALL DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW HAPPY I AM TO FINALLY HAVE THIS UP!!!!!  
> I have literally bought and tried multiple jams from Bonne Maman (Blueberry is my jam) and had a tab open on my phone since Jan for this fic. It’s been in progress that long.  
> http://www.daleharvey.com/Directory/articles-of-interest/LANGUAGE+OF+FLOWERS/Meaning+of+Flowers.html  
> Mostly because after I saw this I KNEW what kind of fruit jam it was going to be, and I mean, you have to have lavender for luck. ;)  
> Also i had to actually come up with an akuma for this one. Like that was work I have been avoiding in my fics so far. Akumas. Bleh. can’t they just have magical powers for no reason other than it’s fun?  
> Finally, trying to map out Marinette’s house was a nightmare. Her house is directly across the river from the Notre Dame and directly to the right of the school. But the Eiffel Tower? You know the one that’s like an hour minute westward walk AWAY from the IRL Notre Dame? Is visually DIRECTLY behind the school in other scenes, while wrong on a map, lead me to believe that her house was at least south of the Notre Dame. Which would make the ND as it is viewed in the show backwards. None of it made sense.They didn’t think we’d notice. But we did.  
> Astruc, get your maps together.  
> I ended up using the MariChat scene in Glaciator for reference. Though, looking back, it’s pretty funny that Chat leaves Marinette basically right in front of her house in Evillustrator. Maps are weird. I am weird. You now know all of this. /rant


End file.
